I’ve always been a really big Maggie Stiefvater fan. I have loved everything she’s written so last year when I got to read The Raven Boys which was the first novel of The Raven Cycle I was very excited to get started. I do remember that The Raven Boys had been a read that I had a good time reading, but that I did have a few difficulties with since it did feel very slow paced. Getting to read The Dream Thieves I couldn’t wait to get started because for one thing I would get to read more about Ronan who (from what I remembered) was one of the more interesting boys from the Aglionby Academy.

In The Dream Thieves we learn about Ronan’s ability to take things from his dreams and bring them into the waking world. Continuing the search for the dead king Glendower, the raven boys and Blue find themselves delving deeper into a world full of mystery, secrets and magic. Between Blue, Adam and Gansey is the fact that if Blue ever kisses her true love they’ll die—and according to everything Blue has seen, heard and knows Gansey fits the bill. But Blue won’t let herself believe that Gansey is her true love and she knows deep in her heart that Adam is the better boy to be with…

Then there’s Ronan and the matter of the secrets surrounding him and his father’s uncanny ability to steal things from their dreams. But Ronan’s ability is beginning to spin out of control and with it has come the arrival of new threats. One of them being a charming and eerie man in grey, another being a fellow Aglionby student and a total pain in the butt. When things begin to spin out of control, the raven boys and Blue find that their search for Glendower may lead them to things they never expected and shocking revelations.

Personally I enjoyed The Dream Thieves a lot more than I did The Raven Boys. Mainly because I felt that unlike The Raven Boys there weren’t as many unnecessary introductions to characters, backstories and the like. The Dream Thieves continues right where The Raven Boys left off and keeps up the same pace throughout the story. I liked the change in atmosphere that came with this sequel as well as getting to see into Ronan’s head whereas most of The Raven Boys was strictly Blue and Gansey and a few other characters.

In The Dream Thieves we do get to see through the eyes of Blue, Gansey, Ronan and a few other raven boys. We also get to see chapters written in the POV (point of view) from a few secondary characters and antagonists. Characters who didn’t get many appearances in The Raven Boys come back inThe Dream Thieves and get more chapters including them which I really liked. Plus there’s the Gray Man, a creepy new character who was probably one of my favorite parts of the novel. He was a mysterious, suave stranger who raises some Hell throughout The Dream Thieves.

The one thing that I was a bit disappointed about was the lack of romance inThe Dream Thieves. I did expect that apart from the raven boys proceeding to search for Glendower, Blue, Adam and Gansey would get some time to expand their romance. I was also hoping that maybe some of the other raven boys or secondary characters would get some romance in especially since Stiefvater writes romance so well. Personally I found the romance aspect of this read lacking which did have me majorly sad since the description I read for The Dream Thieves made it sound like there would be way more romance than there was in The Raven Boys.

I would recommend this series to readers who are big fans of the supernatural, readers who are looking for a new exciting and original read and to fans of Maggie Stiefvater who are definitely going to eat these novels right up.